Fred and the New House

Fred the cat was happy in the tumbledown, comfortable house he shared with Jake. He liked the soft feel of the worn floor and the way that floor squeaked when Jake shuffled across it.  He liked the sag in the ceiling and the way the light swayed and shadows danced when the wind blew hard […]

An Unexpected Menace

An Unexpected Menace

I got out of my car. The place looked deserted but as I approached the nearer house, a tall, bony dog appeared around the corner. It growled. I stopped. The animal didn’t look in the least friendly. It bared its teeth, snarled and started toward me.      Everything I had ever read about unfriendly dogs […]

The Not So Nice Mice

The Not So Nice Mice

The Not So Nice Mice A Fable By Blanche Day Manos The hundred year-old barn was home to a cow, a rooster, some hens, and a mule who pulled a plow. The days they spent in working; each one did its best, and when the sun sank from the sky, the animals wanted rest. But, […]

A Winter Night

Backyard bushes, robbed of summer’s greenery, stand bare and gray in the winter night. The birds don’t mind. When moonlight silvers the yard, they crowd deep into the thick twigs, twittering and chirping,  content to be hidden by darkness and their stubbly cover. A few wild forest creatures slip into the yard. A raccoon, a […]

Buz and the Star

Buz the Fox   You see, it might have happened this way: once upon a time, about two thousand years ago, some foxes dwelt in the hill country and plains around Bethlehem. I hate to tell you this, but it was their custom to follow, at a discreet distance, the flocks of sheep that shepherds […]

Conclusion of The Christmas Barn

The cold wind blew their leaves away. The three friends shivered and wished for day. “We can’t just do nothing,” the raccoon said. “Come on, squirrel and chipmunk. Let’s go  a bit farther. Maybe we’ll find food.”      Sighing, the squirrel straightened up and took Chipmunk’s hand. On they went, through the cold night. They […]